When I posted a recipe for Southern fried chicken in November last year, there was a suggestion in the comment thread to dip the chicken in milk before the final coating. In the entry itself, I pointed to some links to the various ways of cooking Southern fried chicken, including one that requires precooking the chicken in buttermilk before frying. My curiosity finally got the better of me and I cooked some fried chicken yesterday with a modified technique on how to incorporate the milk in the recipe.
I marinated the chicken lollipops in a mixture of salt, freshly ground pepper and evaporated filled milk. It was unbelievable what the milk did to the chicken meat. With pieces as small as chicken lollipops, cooking in very high temperature can dry the meat fast. But after an hour of soaking in milk, the chicken lollipops were wonderfully crisp outside, juicy and moist inside.
But what are chicken lollipops? Oh, you know, that part of the wing that resembles a drumstick.
Unseasoned chicken lollipops can be bought in pre-packed and pre-weighed trays in many supermarkets. I bought mine from Landmark. You can prepare the chicken lollipops yourself, there’s nothing complicated about the process, but it does entail quite a lot of work. Next time, I’ll post step-by-step photos on how to prepare chicken lollipops. Right now, I’m much too excited about this recipe.
Ingredients:
24 to 30 chicken lollipops, about 1.5 kg.
1-1/2 tbsps. of salt
1 tbsp. of freshly ground pepper
1 c. of evaporated filled milk
3/4 c. of flour
1/2 c. of cornmeal (I used white cornmeal)
about 3 c. of cooking oil for deep frying
Place the chicken lollipops in a large shallow baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour in the milk. Cover with cling film and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
In a wide shallow bowl, whisk together the flour and cornmeal. You may add a little salt and some pepper.
Heat the cooking oil to almost smoking point. Dredge each chicken lollipop in the flour-cornmeal mixture and fry. Do this in batches to make sure that the temperature of the oil does not drop too much. If the temperature of the oil is just right, the chicken lollipops should be done in three to four minutes.
Drain the fried chicken lollipops on paper towels. Serve at once.
Notes:
You may change the proportion of the flour and cornmeal. I prefer more flour to cornmeal but I’ve tried a 1:1 ratio in the past and it works too.
Chicken lollipops are traditionally an hors d’œuvre but it is also very popular in children’s party menus. I serve the chicken lollipops with linguine in white sauce.
This recipe is meant to be child-friendly, uncomplicated and straightforward, but there are so many other ways to cook chicken lollipops. Next time, I’ll do it Asian style.
Hi! Where can i get cornmeal?
Supermarket — Landmark & Unimart both seel cornmeal.
Dipping in milk should also work with fried chicken (not just wings/lollipops), probably just need to use more milk?
Yes. I was going to try that next time hehehe
is der any good substitute for cornmeal? thanks
I try to avoid deep frying whenever I can. An alternate method is to marinade chicken overnite in buttermilk, brush with a mixture of honey,dijon mustard and melted butter and then dip into a mix of flour and Japanese Panko bread crumbs and bake in the oven.
Re “I try to avoid deep frying”
Don’t we all?
Over cooking is okay but the texture is never really the same.
another way to get the deep fried effect by using a turbo broiler. It uses hot air to fry the food.
sure. Crushed cornflakes or bread crumbs, or the Japanese panko…
Try using peanut oil. I was told by the “Southern Ladies” here from work they prefre to fry using peanut oil. Not sure if that’s available in Pinas…
Sure it is. But I prefer using peanut oil for stir fries. It’s expensive and deep frying means lots and lots of oil.
hmmmm. sounds yummy yet so easy to prepare.. tom i’ll try this with chicken tenders.. btw, i also tried your fried chicken wings southern style you posted before, to tell you, t’was a big hit at home! bravo!
Bravo to you too.
mmmmm sounds so good. I think I just may need to make chicken this way this week.
This chicken looks good but I don’t think we can buy lollipop chicken here in California. Would you mind giving me the instruction on how to make a regular chicken wings into a lollipop chicken?
Thank you!
Am planning on posting a “how to” debone little drumsticks (and a whole chicken too). Have to time that for when I cook chicken lollipops again.
aside from buttermilk or milk, use yogurt.
I also like to add powdered garlic & onion and paprika to my marinades.
This looks yummy. I’m excited to try it for my little boy who loves fried chicken. Somebody mentioned getting a deep fry effect using turbo broiler. May I ask how you do it? I’m dieting so I could really use the suggestion. Thanks.
Hi. I first discovered your website last Jan. and I’ve been cooking using your recipes. My husband loves my cooking thanks to your recipes!
I want to try your chicken lollipop recipe tomorrow night but I’ve tried looking for cornmeal in Rustan’s Shang and SM Supermarket in Megamall (which is near where I live) but they don’t sell it. I don’t have time to go to Unimart. What would be a good substitute for cornmeal?
Thanks
So, there’s evap milk pala with this chicken lollipop recipe! I’ll try it this weekend!
Ok I will try this recipe for my daughter´s 2nd b-day party this weekend. I will have to buy the wings and do the chicken lollipop myself bec. there is no ready made here …
Thanks.
what will happen if i wont put commeal?
Then you’ll just have floured chicken.